Gator I understand your position on fertilization. I don't fertilize either, but, the statement
if you are not going to fertilize, then total alkalinity is not a factor.
can be misleading & may have been taken out of context.
One may not fertilize because
1)the pond is already being fertilized from the watershed, or
2)there is no desire to produce more pounds of fish than the pond can naturally accomodate, or
3) (as may be the situation in your case with the GG test pond) due to large numbers of fish your pond produces it's own fertilizer via fish manure.
That's just three, there are many.
You're right though, limeing could complicate the management if for instance lime was the limiting factor in being able to maintain a bloom equaling 18" to 24" as read on a sishi dish.
If for example you had been maintaining a decent bloom of say 24" to 30" without adding lime, then you add lime & your bloom explodes dropping vis. quickly to 12".
It can get complicated & your cautious approach is smart.
I just wanted to point out that it's not so simple as "if you don't fertilize you don't need to lime".
